Best posts made by mom2jel

FREE Meow Mix Simple Servings Cat Food Sample

WATCH4FALLCOLORS - 100 pts
not sure of expiration

I tried Credit Karma last year, it (I can’t remember which one) a) couldn’t handle college scholarships or b) let me input mutual fund dividends.
The past several years, I have done our taxes multiple times with the various tax programs (H&R Block, TurboTax, TaxSlayer, TaxAct, etc.). If you have a mortgage, mutual funds (dividends), or college scholarships then you are best off with H&R Block or TurboTax - and then just keep an eye out each year for deals on which one you like better.

I used to like TurboTax, but I have found that H&R Block’s interview questions are more thorough. With my sons college scholarships H&R Block helps me figure them correctly while with TurboTax I have to go back in every time and try go directly to the form and fill in the correct numbers manually.

(Yes, I do our taxes at least twice every year with a different program to double-check myself)

I’ve been going through several pc’s the past couple of months cleaning them up to sell, and it seems like Windows 10 is free to install.
I had two computers that I did a clean install of Win10, skipped the part where I entered the Product Key and the next day the computers would be activated and registered.
One was a homemade pc, had corrupted Vista on it’s hard drive so I reformatted it (externally on another pc) before the Win10 install.
I go through Win10 settings to get the “feel” of Win7, especially on the Start Menu - so I’m a Win10 convert.
So if you have an old pc sitting around, you might want to see if you can install Win10.
Windows Media Creation Tool (download, then install both versions to a flash drive is the best)

This is a nice cookbook. I haven’t made anything yet, lol; but my son has Crohn’s Disease so I had requested this a while ago.

I’m a Google girl
I have these on my desktop, Chromebox, Chromebook, and android phone.
Keep - can share notes (perfect for grocery list), can “tack” notes to the top, choose reminder dates.
Backup and Sync - Can sync items you choose (Drive, Desktop, Photo’s, etc)
Contacts - Will stay synced between pc and phone
Drive - On my pc, this would be “My Documents” folder. Inside of that I have folders for each of my boys that I share with them. You have no idea how many times this has saved us over the years! Copies of their driver’s license, copies of our auto insurance, vaccination records, medical records.
Music Manager - uploads “My Music” folder so that I have access anytime to my music (I have around 20,000 songs!) need to set to wifi only on phones so data doesn’t get used.
Families - especially nice for sharing movies, books, and apps across family members.

Other ones:
TeamViewer - perfect for working on my 86-yr old mom computer from home so that I don’t have to drive to her house to get her “cc:” field back in her Outlook, lol. Or my lazy butt to go turn off DS’s pc he left on in another part of the house. I can also work on college son’s pc when he requests help (rare, but still nice to have). Our high school distributes MacBook’s to all the students… except I’m mean and force my DS to use his Chromebook from home. For one class that needed to use a program, he used TeamViewer on his pc at home to run the program via his Chromebook at school.
CCleaner
Malwarebytes

Please, please, please do not use Roundup or Monsanto products; it is not good for us or the environment.
CNN
Scientific American
NY Times
The Guardian
National Geographic
Rodale

Alternatives: www.everydaycheapskate.com/home-and-family/hands-down-the-best-way-to-kill-weeds-and-its-not-roundup/
White vinegar. Ordinary distilled white vinegar with 5% acidity is cheap and works great. If you can find a higher acidity even up to 20%, it is going to work faster, but the end results will be the same.

Table salt. Use the cheapest kind of salt you can find in the supermarket—not sea salt, rock salt, Epsom salts (not even close to table salt, trust me on that) or anything fancy. Just cheap iodized or un-iodized generic salt also known as sodium chloride (NaCl).

Dishwashing liquid. You will be using only a few drops, so the brand doesn’t matter. The purpose of the soap is to break the surface tension of the vinegar so it sticks to the weeds, forcing them to absorb it more readily.

WEED KILLER FOR AREAS TO BE REPLANTED. If you have weeds in areas you want to replant, do this: Fill an ordinary garden sprayer with white vinegar and add about one teaspoon liquid dishwashing soap like blue Dawn or Meyer’s Clean Day. Apply sprayer top and follow the instructions on the sprayer to get it ready to spray. That’s it. Seriously, it is that simple. Pick a hot, dry day to spray weeds until saturated, and they will wilt and shrivel up within hours so be careful to not spray anything you want to live. However, do not worry about the vinegar killing anything below the soil. Because vinegar will not harm the soil, you can safely replant the area once the weeds have died.

WEED KILLER FOR AREAS NEVER TO GROW AGAIN. To kill all vegetation in walkways, driveways and other areas where you don’t want any living thing to grow again, mix two cups ordinary table salt with one gallon of white vinegar. Do this in a container that is larger than one gallon capacity so you have room for the salt. Apply the lid and shake to dissolve the salt. Salt dissolves more quickly in vinegar than in water, but it takes a bit of doing. It may not completely dissolve, but that’s okay. Add 1 teaspoon of liquid dishwashing soap. Pour into an ordinary garden sprayer. Apply to weeds or grass on a dry, sunny day to areas you don’t want to see vegetation of any kind in the future.

The presence of salt in this recipe is what will eventually bring permanence to your weed killing. The salt will penetrate and leach into the soil. It may take several applications, but in time the presence of salt will “sterilize” the soil in this area so that nothing will grow there. Plan well before you go this permanent route.

These homemade weed killer recipes are not only cheap, both are completely non-toxic to humans and animals. In fact, except for the soap (not toxic, but not very tasty) you could have fun with the family tonight when you tell them you made the salad vinaigrette using 3 parts olive oil to 1 part weed killer

So, am I the only one boycotting ebates?
(I’ve been using BeFrugal)

@chinarider said in Windows 10 - free?:

I assume what you’re seeing is right in line with what the guys discussed some months ago. It will activate but technically speaking you shouldn’t really have a Windows 10 license. Whether or not Microsoft ever does anything about it is another story. Although I’m somewhat surprised to hear that the machine with a clean install activated without any input on your part… That doesn’t make any sense to me. Perhaps I’m misunderstanding…

I just clarified over there, figured I’d do it here too.
I read an article from a tech guy saying the upgrade still seemed to work at the end of May(?). I think the first pc I worked on had the free upgrade already done but had automatically installed 32bit and I wanted 64bit. Then I found that Windows doesn’t like to do that and had to do a clean install.
When I did the install and entered the legitimate Win7 key it worked.

Second to last pc I upgraded I didn’t have the product key in front of me, so I figured I’d enter it later. A few days later I went in to register it and it was done already. Last pc I did was the homemade one, and again just figured I would enter the key later - and when I went to go input it, it was already activated.

I have product #'s from TechNet days, so I wasn’t trying to pull anything sleazy.

(I was on a roll in August/Sept of cleaning up various pc’s (college kids, etc); ended up selling four out of six of the pc’s I had sitting around. The last two I have interested buyers. I have one pc case and a box of computer parts (PSU’s, hard drives, DVD-drives, cables, etc) to sell and then I’ll have my “computer closet” cleaned out - yay!)

Team FatWallet on Kiva has changed it’s name to PhatWallet and is looking for new members (lenders)!
Link: Kiva Team PhatWallet (since 2008!)

I personally have made 59 loans, only one of those defaulted.

About Kiva:
Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. We celebrate and support people looking to create a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.

By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy or realize their potential. For some, it’s a matter of survival, for others it’s the fuel for a life-long ambition.

100% of every dollar you lend on Kiva goes to funding loans. Kiva covers costs primarily through optional donations, as well as through support from grants and sponsors.

tl;dr
Join Kiva, loan money to others in need, get your money back (99% of the time) and re-loan it, or transfer it back yourself.

“Hi, thank you for your interest in Supreme Source. Due to overwhelming demand, this offer has expired. Please check back soon for a new offer. Thank you!”

Here’s how bad RoundUp can be… I asked my husband to buy some Marsh Hay (no seed heads) to cover my strawberry bed garden for the winter. Instead, he brought home “ditch straw” that a friend of his cut from his hobby farm. That ditch straw received years of overspray from the farm fields and became immune to RoundUp and all other weed killer (general use and farm use).

The ditch straw that my idiot-husband put in my garden completely ruined it. It is a raised garden bed that had been filled with a clean, weed-free garden soil and was basically weed free for over 10 years. That ditch straw seeded itself, we could not get rid of it by any means… pulling it, various types of weed killer, the vinegar/salt/dishsoap killed the leaves but not the roots. We even covered the garden in heavy black plastic for a year to try and bake it out. I battled those farkin’ weeds for over 5 years and they only multiplied every year.
We finally had to remove all the soil and haul in new soil.

My brother has had bee “colony collapse” twice with his bee hobby hives, the problem was his neighbor using RoundUp; once my brother talked to the neighbor and the RoundUp use was eliminated, he hasn’t had a problem the last three years.

My mother grew up on a farm (1940’s) and she raised me to be natural (“semi-organic”) as well. As a little girl in the summer, I took the nightly dishwater out to pour on the weeds growing in the cracks of the sidewalk or driveway. She gardened the same way her father farmed, very few chemicals were used. In my cheapness, the only chemicals I use in my garden is fertilizer.

This isn’t political, it’s using common sense. Think back to when you were growing up, there was a lot less “stuff” out there that now pretends to make our lives easier. I’ve been making a lot more items myself the last few years, including windshield washer fluid, washing machine detergent (powdered), glass cleaner, stinky shoe refresher balls, etc. I never set out to be a “granola cruncher” but when I saw how few cents it takes to make my own cleaners that work just as well as the $$ stuff, I don’t look at myself as “granola-y” but more as a smart consumer saving money and the environment.

Edit: I received an email from eBay that they pulled the auction, but today I received 2 emails that my camera’s were shipped.

Wyze Cam Pan $11.99:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/123894248502 (limit 2)
This ships from China, so it will take a few weeks to get here.

Wyze: https://wyze.com/wyze-cam-pan.html ($29.99)
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wyze-1080p…07DGR98VQ/ ($37.98)

I bought one of these from the manufacturer this summer; great camera, I was impressed. Only downside is that you need the app to view it, or with Amazon Echo Show or Google/Nest Home Hub. I can’t find a (free) way of viewing on my computer yet.

I love these!
Side note… several years ago I did a taste test for Costco where we got to try about 15 various items so they could get an idea of what to carry in their stores. One of them was the Brazi Bites (they just told us they were brazilian cheese bread), none of us testers had heard of it, and we all loved them.

Fast forward a few months and I’m watching Shark Tank and see them pitch the Brazi Bites! A couple months later, they were at Costco.

P.S. The pizza flavored one isn’t that great. I like all the other flavors, the garlic (purple bag) one I like best.

Thank you for the RSS feeds!
I like following the freebie thread via RSS on my uStart.org homepage

Thanks, I was needing a new one.

I love the USPS Priority padded envelopes - can fit items in them that might not fit in the cardboard flat rate envelopes.
I list items from around the house. I have a stack of clothes that I need to list, I hate taking pictures and doing descriptions.

There’s been a couple of times I swear the buyer was trying to do something underhanded. I had a women file a claim because the insoles of a pair of athletic shoes weren’t glued down and she spent $6 on glue (WTF?). Guy bought a Xbox external hard drive, used it for a month and then decided it wrecked his xbox and filed a claim to return it. Overall buyers are decent, then every once in awhile you get a jerk.

I’m thinking there’s no reason you couldn’t set them up with a prepaid credit card meant for teenagers: www.doughroller.net/credit-cards/prepaid-debit-cards-for-teens/

I started my kids on Visa Buxx (which was okay; you have to go through a bank to get it; fee’s vary by bank and if you are a current customer), then switched to AmEx’s Serve (was named Pass when we used it).
I liked the AmEx version better for their customer service and online access/controls.

I have our credit card limits capped (I’m going to make a different post about that). Not sure how much the credit card companies “obey” that limit though?
I’m partial to Discover, great customer service in my opinion. You could open a Discover It card, and add your relative as an authorized user (they will get their own card with their name on it). Ask Discover to cap it at $500, set up the online account to alert you for purchases over $, and if your limit reaches $. Then you can put a “freeze” on their card if they go over it.

@sweetclover said in How to buy used/pre-owned car, PWF/FWF style:

I bought a used car from a dealer that was listed below book value, because it wasn’t the kind of car the dealer sold, and they wanted it off the lot to make room for something else.

I did this 18-months ago, I was looking for a Chevy Malibu for my oldest son.
I wasn’t on any timeline, so I took my time to look. I found a 2012 Malibu at a Mazda dealership, my son and I went to go look at it because it almost seemed to good to be true at $1000k less than all the other ones I had seen.

I asked the salesperson why it was cheaper and he told me exactly that… it was a trade-in and they didn’t want another brand on their lot.

Personally, I like buying new but with 3 sons, we’ve purchased two used cars (and one motorcycle) for them. New makes sense for me… I still own and am the original buyer of my '86 Camaro and '02 Tahoe (each have about 70k miles on them), neither has had any problems.
According to my boys, I’m not allowed to sell either one of my vehicles because they want them, lol.

@jtownsucks46 said in Team Kiva: PhatWallet (formerly known as FatWallet):

@mom2jel Is there the potential to make money or is this solely charity?

Charity only - BUT, you can get all of your $ back (if you wish) if the loans aren’t defaulted.

I originally put in $100 and made four loans; when the money was paid back, I kept re-loaning (and donate a small amount each time to offset the Kiva costs). That $100 helped 59 people!

If you have a Lands End Outlet near, you can go into the store to order (any $) and get free shipping.

I can personally attest to the fantastic quality of LE items - especially their backpacks (good for kids through middle school, then I recommend SwissGear backpacks for high school & college kids)

The LE winter coats are the absolute best for Minnesota winters; the quality of them last through a hand-me-down between three sons, and still in good enough shape to sell them when they have outgrown them.

I use uStart.org as my home page. I used to be able to get facebook & instagram on it but their coding changed. I am able to get Reddit and Twitter, as well as PhatWallet, our local newspaper and anything else I like with an RSS.

I’d like to add that I would be honest with prospective employers if they ask about your work gaps; I would think they would be happy to get a depressed employee over someone with a more questionable past.

By the way, living with your mom isn’t that bad (say’s the mom of three sons who realized the other day that my oldest at 23 might move out when he graduates college this spring… and I can’t stand the thought of that happening; although I’m ready to get rid of the 17 yr old, lol)

ETA: corrected “is” to isn’t (was that a freudian slip?)

I got in on this right before they closed the free deal

Email from Quicken today: (hmph )

We are writing because a recent transaction you made on Quicken.com for $0 was an error.
What Happened?
An unauthorized test link offering a $0 purchase of Quicken Premier was inadvertently exposed to the public. Then, links to this unauthorized test page were posted on several public forums. Quicken did not authorize or distribute these links, and this test page was never intended for public distribution. Unfortunately, this subscription price and term are not offered in our product line up. When we discovered the error, it was immediately corrected.
Because we appreciate your interest in Quicken Premier, we’re offering a complimentary 60-day subscription to Quicken 2018 to make up for any inconvenience you may have experienced.
If you are new to Quicken or use a Quicken version prior to the 2018 release:
You now have a complimentary 60-day membership to Quicken 2018 Premier. At any time during or after this period, you can choose to renew your membership from currently available offers. The credit card you supplied for the erroneous transaction will not be billed for this complimentary 60-day subscription, and it will not auto-renew to a paid subscription unless you elect to purchase a Quicken 2018 subscription during or following this 60-day period.
If you were using an older version of Quicken and do not wish to use the newer version, you can uninstall Quicken 2018 and return to using your older version. Please see the links below for instructions on how to do so.
If you already had a Quicken 2018 Membership
Your selection of the invalid $0 subscription was corrected and your subscription plan has been returned to the plan you originally selected. We’ve also given you a complimentary 60-day extension to your subscription term. Please note that Quicken subscriptions, including this complimentary extension, are non-transferable.
Please enjoy your complimentary 60 days of Quicken and we apologize for any confusion.
Sincerely,
The Quicken Team

How to Uninstall Quicken 2018: [https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-uninstall-quicken-windows](link url)
How to Reinstall Pre-2018 Version of Quicken: [https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-download-quicken-quickencom-after-i-buy-it](link url)

I love my “Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing” (3M) products!

@fivetalents About 4 hours (?) after you posted, I should have clarified it was for the cat food.
Now when I click through, I get a coupon for $2.50 off.

Market briefly abuzz with report of Target-Kroger merger talks, but source says nothing to it
Article:
The market was briefly abuzz Friday morning with a report from Fast Company that cited unnamed sources who said Target and Kroger have been in merger talks for months.

But a source familiar with the matter told the Star Tribune that there is no truth to the report. The source speculated that the confusion may have stemmed from the talks Target has been having with a number of retailers about joining its same-day delivery platform through Shipt, a firm Target acquired late last year.

Kroger’s shares spiked 7 percent before the markets opened this morning on the initial report. In its report, Fast Company said the two retailers first began conversations last summer that continued in the fall and are ongoing this year. The report noted the flurry of activity in the grocery space since Amazon’s acquisition last year of Whole Foods.

It also notes that Target’s grocery chief, Jeff Burt, was hired last year from Kroger.

Burt was brought on to help Target fix what has been an ongoing weakness for it especially as chains such as Wal-Mart and Aldi and Hy-Vee have been upping their grocery games.

In the last couple years, Target has been working to improve its supply chain to offer fresher and more organic produce as well as to introduce more better-for-you products. It has been expanding its beer and wine selection, which has been showing positive results.

It now has employees dedicated to the grocery department in its stores to improve service. And as it has been remodeling stores, with 325 locations on deck to get makeovers this year, Target has been improving in-store grocery presentation with updated lighting and produce bins.

But while some analysts have been waiting for a big overhaul of the department, Cornell told the Star Tribune recently that the company is making more nuanced changes.

“It will be subtle changes,” he said. “It may not be something we shout about, but we know the changes we’re making in assortment and presentation and service. … They don’t jump out at you, but we know what we’ve done and the guest responds well to it.”

Target, which has historically been more conservative when it comes to acquisitions, began to do more in this space last year when it bought Grand Junction and Shipt. I asked Cornell in late February if we should expect to see Target to make more deals this year.

Here’s what he had to say:
“We look at opportunities every week. There’s always opportunities in the market. If they help accelerate our strategy, if they complement the work that’s in front of us, we’ll certainly continue to look. But as we’ve shown, we’re going to be very selective about where we invest."

DNA deals for DNA Day on April 25th:
23&me Ancestry $69
23&me Ancestry + Health $139
Ancestry.com $59
I recommend 23andme.com over Ancestry(.com):
I did 23&me + Health several years ago and I found the results get better over time as more people are added; they are the only ones FDA approved to release some of the health reports; their DNA ancestry is superior to Ancestry(.com)'s reports. 23&me integrates with myheritage.com for genealogy.
I did Ancestry.com this past year because I thought I might find more (distant) relatives; I didn’t find anyone new compared to 23&me.

I attached screenshots from Ancestry.com and 23andme.com so you can see the differences for my results.

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Note that if I click on ‘Great Britain’ (52%) I don’t get anymore distinct results, the 13 sub-regions all show “zero connection”.